Memorializing the Crossing (Joshua 4:1–10)

The Lord was in control of all the activities at the Jordan River that day. He told the priests when to enter the river and when to leave and go to the other side. He told the water when to roll back and when to return. Both the water and the people obeyed Him, and everything worked out as God planned. It was a day that glorified the Lord and magnified His servant Joshua (v. 14).

I. God’s command to Joshua to pick out twelve men. (vv. 1-3)

1 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

A. Joshua repeats the command to lift up the stones.

It and the observation that the stones (and the priests) are in the midst of the Jordan demonstrate that he followed God’s instructions. The actions of the twelve men demonstrate that Joshua has also obeyed God’s word in verse 3.

The LORD told Joshua to direct 12 men, previously chosen (cf. 3:12), to carry 12 stones from the bed of the river to the place of the first night’s encampment.

B. God’s command in 4:2–3 is more detailed than Joshua’s words in 3:12.

In 4:3, the actual duties of these men are revealed: the men were to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the spot where the priests were standing firmly, and carry them to their lodging place for the night.

The response of the 12 men was immediate and unquestioning. They could well have feared reentering the Jordan. After all, how long would it stay dry? Whatever fears they may have had were put aside and they unhesitatingly obeyed God’s instructions.

II. Joshua’s commands to the twelve men, in fulfillment of God’s command to him. (vv. 4-7)

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

A. The first explanation of the meaning of the stones.

In v. 4, the references to the twelve men, one from each tribe, is another back reference, to the words in 3:12 and 4:2. However, “choose” in those verses is replaced by “appointed” here.

The verb “appointed” is from the same root word as that translated “firm” and “firmly” in 3:17 and 4:3. Just as the priests had stood “firmly” in the midst of the Jordan, now Joshua was causing the twelve men to be (firmly) established.

B. The men were to take the stones for the specific purpose.

Joshua’s commands in vv. 5–7 began by instructing the men each to pass before the ark into the midst of the Jordan and to take a stone from there, and he explained that the number twelve corresponded to the number of tribes of Israel (v. 5). This is an obvious point, but it is a reminder of the nation’s essential unity.

The stones’ purpose was to be a testimony and a memorial to Israel’s descendants that God had worked a great miracle in stopping up the waters of the Jordan. They were not to be an altar for sacrifice, but a pile of stones for a “remembrance.”

The memorial was to be a highly personalized one: literally, the Hebrew at the end of v. 6 reads, “What are these stones to you?” The Israelites’ children would be asking them what these stones symbolized for them personally, and they were to have an answer ready that told of the miracle that God had performed and the ark’s role in it.

II. Joshua sets up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River.

8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. 10 So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over.

A. Joshua joined these men on their strange mission.

While they were wrenching up great stones from the bed of the river, he set another pile of 12 stones in the riverbed itself to mark the precise spot where the priests stood with the ark of the covenant. This was apparently done on Joshua’s own initiative and expressed his desire to have a personal reminder of God’s faithfulness at the very beginning of the Conquest of Canaan.

The first set, then, would be the true memorial stones, and the second set would mark the very spot where the priests had stood, perhaps coming visible during the dry season.

B. Joshua set up the monument in the midst of the river.

To the Jews, it must have seemed a strange thing for their leader to do. After all, who but God could see twelve stones heaped together in a riverbed? We aren’t told that God commanded Joshua to set up this second monument, but it’s likely that He did. At least, He didn’t reproach him for doing it.

The monument at Gilgal reminded the Jews that God had opened the Jordan River and brought them safely across into the Promised Land. They had made a break with the past and were never to think of going back. The monument in the depths of the river reminded them that their old life was buried and they were now to “walk in newness of life”